You know how there are times where you end up at the end of your day with only one thing achieved? Or, maybe worse, five different things, all started and none finished? Yip, me too. That's work.
What about when you have a whole week like that? It can be pretty disheartening. And in the New Zealand public sector, particularly at the moment, needing to do vastly more with fewer people almost guarantees this. It's frustrating, some of your motivation for work will ebb, and you might feel like pulling back on your dedication to your job, a little bit at least.
Once you start having weeks that are regularly like that, it's definitely something to sort out.
Making and seeing meaningful progress in our work is a key ingredient for job satisfaction, according to research on the power of small wins by Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer. Not completing what we had planned to during our week doesn't sit comfortably with the identity we've built for ourselves as highly capable, can-do women. And, feeling you're in the driver's seat is vital for feeling engaged, and for avoiding work stress and burnout.
However, the solution (there is one!) isn't about working harder, or getting more organised, or downloading some nifty-looking app. It's about creating one short pause each week that gives you the breathing room to reflect, review, rejig and re-motivate. (That's a lot of words being with the letter R.)
A weekly reset at work - from a productivity standpoint
This is not an original idea. In fact, it's been suggested in a number of different places. David Allen wrote about the concept of a weekly review in his book Getting Things Done. I myself first came across it in Rick Pastoor's book Grip in which he refers to his 'Friday recap' as 'working with a net'. And then I found another version in Cal Newport's Deep Work.
The idea is that it's a scheduled and regular opportunity to catch the things that flew out the window when you were busy fighting fires: the urgent briefings, the unexpected summonses to meetings, the information-gathering that took way longer than expected. Then, to make a new place for those sidelined tasks in the week to come.
As well as giving you a clear slate and sense of control, it saves you from being mentally and emotionally held to ransom by your task list over the weekend. That's a time when, frankly, you've got other fish to fry, right? Whether that’s getting the groceries and doing the laundry, your family, socialising or some restorative downtime for yourself.
A weekly reset - from a wellbeing perspective
I recently read Dr Kathryn Page’s book Good Work, in which she argues that to reduce the mental ill-health that modern work often leads to, we need to redesign the work, rather than constantly trying to fix the worker. But, she acknowledges that before we can think about designing good work at the team and organisational level, we need to focus on the bringing more ease to the individual worker.
In Chapter 3, she talks about how creating space in our schedule allows our brain to shift modes, providing us insights we couldn't have had otherwise.
She mentions performance psychologist Dr Adam Fraser, who calls the transitional moments between one role and the next, one meeting and the next, or one part of your day and the next, the 'third space'. Dr Fraser's research shows that in this space you can let go of what's been, reset your emotional and mental state, and choose how you want to 'show up' next, to not only transform your effectiveness but also your relationships.
This idea is attractive to me, as someone who squeezes out as much productive work in as many hours as I can per week, whether it’s at my desk or elsewhere. And it's also evidence-based, so I can quieten the erstwhile policy analyst on my shoulder asking, 'What's that based on?'.
Still, I have to say, I have a soft spot for 'getting organised' and feel drawn to the approaches from the productivity experts too. (I mentioned in a previous post how I came out of one of those work personality questionnaires as 'Concluder Producer'!)
So, I'm going to propose a combination version, of Pastoor's 'Friday recap' framework, with Fraser's 'third space' process! It would mean getting the best of the pure productivity-oriented method, while also attending to and recognising the emotions and mental health of the human being who's just finished another week of work. Here's how it could look.
A 5-step weekly reset
I would suggest initially allowing half an hour per week for this. But in my own experience, once you get the general process, you get faster.
Review, gather up and (re)schedule
The first step is to look back over the week that's been, by checking through your calendar, your meeting notes, any meeting minutes, your project kanban, your Outlook or other task list, and all your random Post-Its.
See what you got done, what got missed or is still unfinished. For each item that needs more work, or that you are yet to start on, schedule a block in your calendar for next week, or add it to next week's task list.
Reflect and let go
Now that everything has been reviewed and captured, you can relax. Ask yourself how you're feeling about the week that's just been. No matter how smoothly or how much of an unproductive mess it was, you can draw a line under it, and let go.
Pastoor also suggests that you think about any personal successes you had, or anything in particular you learned. A technical skills thing, or something that went well in your interactions with others.
Rest and reset
Dr Fraser suggests getting present in this moment of transitioning - in our case, from a week that's been to a week that's yet to come. Take a few deep breaths. The week's over. You did it.
Look ahead
Take another look at your calendar, and any project schedules. What's coming up next week?
This is a great chance to get clear on what your most important tasks will be. Is there anything that could get in the way of making the progress you plan to? How will you reduce the impact of that roadblock if it does appear?
Choose how to show up
The final step is to think about how you'd like to 'show up' in the week ahead. Will you try to bring some extra energy and positivity? Or, if it's been a hard week, would it be good to have a quieter week, and to take a step back from the action, if possible?
This step enables us to make a conscious choice about how we'll present ourselves to our work world, rather than just carrying any stress and negative residue from this week into the next by default.
When to do a weekly reset
It's really up to you when you do your reset. To my mind, doing it on the last day of your regular working week - and actually blocking time in your calendar for it - makes the most sense. But whether that's Friday or another day will differ from person to person.
I do my own weekly reset on Thursdays, because (in theory, at least) I work Monday to Thursday. I call it my 'Thursday wash-up'. And, because I know myself, and how sometimes time speeds up and I run out of it at the end of the day, I do my wash-up just after lunch. You might like to be tactical like that too.
My advice (unsolicited) is to not do it on the weekend! It's a time for resting and recovering. And when Monday swings back around, you want to feel you've had a break, and are ready to step back into the fray.
Because working in the public sector is challenging. It can sometimes leave you feeling like you don't have much autonomy or agency in your work, and it involves a lot of expectations from all sides, rules to follow, and explicit and not-so-explicit quality criteria for how you act and the work you do.
Within that environment, if you don't feel like you've made much progress during the week, it can be hard to feel good about your work and your job. Even when you feel you’re in the right role for you.
Committing half an hour at a tactically-selected time each week, or even 15 minutes, to pause and reset yourself and your work programme for the week ahead, can bring back those feelings of autonomy and agency. And make sure that your work isn't mentally overflowing into your weekend.
Why don't you give it a try this week? I’d love to hear how it goes.
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Hi, I'm Marie-Louise. I help women in the public sector make more progress in their work, with less stress and avoiding burnout, so that they can feel more satisfied and positive at the end of the day.
I write this weekly-ish blog, to share the helpful action-oriented gems from the research evidence I find in my reading. I've just launched a new 1:1 online coaching offering focusing on tackling your work overwhelm, and offer personalised coaching too. Get in touch, I’d love to hear from you. I'm at marie-louise@fireflycoaching.nz or www.linkedin.com/in/marie-louise-siddle on LinkedIn.